Business : Consumer Behavior

Innovation in the food industry is a tough game, played out in an often tense arena where the regulations that aim to ensure our foods are safe and healthy are applied to scientific and technological developments, against an often contradictory backdrop of consumer concerns, worries and perceptions. Successful food-related innovations are the products of the tension between these forces. more...

Price: $110.00

This is a book about change. In particular, it’s about how our consumer culture is rapidly evolving to allow us to live better, richer lives for less. The catalyst to this change is eBay and similar sites that are quickly growing into mainstream shopping venues and creating unprecedented levels of liquidity for our everyday goods. The wave of the future will be temporary ownership—consumers will be able to buy what they really want because they’ll be able to easily sell it when they are ready to upgrade to the next item on their wish list. Veteran Web entrepreneur Daniel Nissanoff’s invaluable heads-up explores why this change is taking place and discusses what consumers and businesses can do in order to benefit from this new paradigm. ''Would you buy a used engagement ring? What about a used share of Google stock? What's the difference? This breathtaking, clear, compelling book by Daniel Nissanoff makes it clear that in the future, there is no difference.'' —Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside. ''eBay and it imitators have profoundly changed the way consumers shop and buy, and Dan Nissanoff's FutureShop shows that what we've seen so far is only the beginning.'' —Michael Silverstein, Co-author of Trading Up and Senior Vice President, Boston Consulting Group. ''Dan Nissanoff's FutureShop is an insightful look at an explosive new trend, revealing that the future looks bright for consumers and entrepreneurs alike, and that the new auction culture is here to stay.'' —David Bach, Author of The Automatic Millionaire and Start Late, Finish Rich. ''Dan Nissanoff views the future with a 'jeweler's eye,' and FutureShop is a quantum jump in strategic thought.'' —Ed McQuigg, Director of Strategy, Richemont Group. more...

Price: $15.00

From the former trendmaster of Target—how the power of contradictory trends can help reframe your business strategy. Contradictions are everywhere! These days we wear Old Navy with new Gucci, Hanes T-shirts with Armani suits, couture Chanel with vintage denim. Suburban mansions are filled with flea market finds, and we show off our Michael Graves teakettle from Target on Viking stoves in our gourmet kitchens that might even include cabinets purchased from IKEA. When Robyn Waters began her career in the late 1970s, a trend was defined as something that everyone wanted at the same time. Fashion and business magazines proclaimed what was “in” and what was “out.” Back then, it was fairly easy for companies to determine the next big trend, and ride it all the way to the bank. In today’s marketplace the “next big thing” has been replaced by a thousand next big things. And in order to discover what consumers are hungry for companies need to discover what’s important…to them. Today a cookie cutter approach no longer works. Waters explains that for every trend there’s an equally valid countertrend. In The Hummer and the Mini, Waters explores the new trend landscape and urges companies to stop looking for the one right answer in their industry. There are many good ways to design products, develop a line of goods, merchandise a store, or craft a marketing message. You can thrive by selling huge cars (the Hummer) or tiny ones (the Mini). You can turn something old into something new and desirable (the Vespa) or turn a commodity into a luxury (In-and-Out Burgers at the Oscars). You can even customize a product designed for the masses (personalized postage stamps) or sell less as more (Minute Clinics). Through lively tales of influential trends and countertrends, The Hummer and the Mini will show you how to live with the contradictions, make the most of the inconsistencies, and embrace the paradoxes of business as a source of more...

Price: $24.95

Just Ask a Woman is a powerful book about how to tap into female consumers' needs. Mary Quinlan, the founder of the premiere consultancy dedicated to marketing to women, has personally interviewed 3,000 women in the course of her research for Just Ask a Woman . Women are the decision-makers in an estimated eighty-five percent of household buying decisions, and yet far too often, products marketed specifically to them fail to connect with their needs. more...

Price: $27.95

In the late nineteenth century, controversy over the social ramifications of the emerging consumer marketplace beset the industrialized nations of the West. In France, various commentators expressed concern that rampant commercialization threatened the republican ideal of civic-mindedness as well as the French reputation for good taste. more...

Price: $15.95